Feds Move to Open 1.4 Million Acres of Public Land to Hunting, Fishing

Posted
on June 11, 2019

The
26,400 acres of Wyoming’s Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, where
these mule deer are poking around, along with dozens of other federal
refuges and hatcheries from coast to coast, will see more opportunities
for sportsmen under a new plan announced this week. (Photo: Tom
Koerner/USFWS)

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David
Bernhardt this week announced a proposal to expand hunting and fishing
at nearly 90 wildlife refuges and hatcheries nationwide.

The proposed rule
would include big changes such opening Green Bay National Wildlife
Refuge in Wisconsin to hunting and fishing for the first time and
opening of Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming to deer and
elk hunting for the first time. Other facilities would see smaller
expansions with the net result of some 1.4 million new acres of public
land opened for access to sportsmen.

“Hunting and fishing are
more than just traditional pastimes as they are also vital to the
conservation of our lands and waters, our outdoor recreation economy,
and our American way of life,” said Bernhardt, an outdoorsman endorsed
by pro-gun and pro-hunting groups during his confirmation process this
year. “These refuges and hatcheries provide incredible opportunities for
sportsmen and women and their families across the country to pass on a
fishing and hunting heritage to future generations and connect with
wildlife.”

Besides the Green Bay and Seedskadee refuges, the
proposal would also formally open lands on 15 hatcheries of the National
Fish Hatchery System to sport fishing while two of the hatcheries,
Leadville NFH in Colorado and Iron River NFH in Wisconsin, would also
allow migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting for the
first time. Additionally, some 67 NWRs would see their current hunting
and sport fishing opportunities expanded. In all, an estimated 14,508
new days of hunting on public land will be added nationwide by the plan.

The
change would also standardize and clarify the language of existing
rules across a number of refuges. This means removing approximately
2,100 local regulations and simplify over 2,900 refuge-specific
regulations “to reduce the regulatory burden on the public.” Many of the
current regs on the books are long obsolete, points out USFWS, such as a
mandate for medical access waiver permits on a refuge in Virginia
although local officials have not issued any such waivers for more than
30 years, and have no plans to issue any in the future.

According
to USFWS surveys and data, some 101 million Americans, or 40 percent of
the United States’ population, pursued wildlife-related recreation to
the tune of some $156 billion in 2016. These included an estimated 32
million target shooters and 11.5 million hunters.

Founded in 1903
by President Theodore Roosevelt, there are some 560 refuges in the
National Wildlife Refuge System – a network of lands set aside and
managed by USFWS specifically as habitat for wildlife. This week’s
proposal would up the number of units open for hunting in the system
from 377 to 382.

USFWS will accept public comments on the
proposed rule for 30 days, beginning with publication in the Federal
Register in coming days.